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Glite Dictionary
to dally too long

to dally too long

7.0
To delay longer than you should and risk missing something
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : perder el tiempo
  • Don't dally too long when making your decision, or you'll lose the opportunity.

Examples

  • There are over 1,000 comments on those posts, so don't dally too long.

    Blog text (5)

  • He tends to dally too long in the mornings, which makes him late for work.

  • If you dally too long at the coffee shop, you might miss your train.

Synonyms

to take forever
vsto dally too long
  • Informal
65 3.4

Lasts much longer than expected

implies excess duration, while the key stresses unwise lingering specifically
to procrastinate
vsto dally too long
26 6.5

To delay doing something you should do because you avoid it

is about staying too long in place or inaction rather than postponing duties
to dawdle
vsto dally too long
17 5.0

Move or act slowly and waste time, causing delay

adds the idea of lingering longer than is advisable
to stall for time
vsto dally too long
  • Informal
6 4.8

To delay doing something to get more time

is about wasting time by lingering rather than buying strategic time
to dilly-dally
vsto dally too long
  • Informal
5 7.9

To waste time by delaying when you should act

emphasizes excess lingering beyond what is necessary
to dally
vsto dally too long
4 7.7

To waste time by moving or acting slowly

is about lingering longer than is advisable or necessary
to take one's sweet time
vsto dally too long
  • Informal
3 7.5

Do something slowly on purpose and without hurry

is more about unwise or excessive lingering rather than calm slowness
to mark time
vsto dally too long
  • Informal
3 6.3

Spend time waiting without making progress, doing unproductive things

focuses more on active lingering that wastes usable time
to linger too long
vsto dally too long
2 4.6

Stay somewhere longer than is safe or needed

is the same idea but stresses wasting overall time by delay
to dillydally
vsto dally too long
  • Informal
1 8.3

To waste time by being slow or unsure about what to do

focuses more on staying too long rather than simple hesitation
to hang an arse
vsto dally too long
  • Offensive
9.9

To waste time instead of working

is similar but stresses lingering longer than is sensible

Antonyms

to hurry
∞ 1.0

To move or act quickly because there is little time

to proceed
763 3.0

Begin or continue an action after a pause, often as planned

How Delaying

to dally too long
7.0
to dally
4 7.7
to dawdle
17 5.0
to linger
207 3.7
to hesitate
318 2.5

Surface Forms

dally too long infinitive
dallied too long past
dallied too long past participle
dallying too long present participle
dallies too long third person singular

Morphology

dally + too + long

The meaning is compositionally built from 'dally' (to linger or delay) modified by the common adverbial phrase 'too long' (for an excessively long time). Because 'too long' clearly marks excessive duration, a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer the MWE as "linger or delay longer than is advisable".

Etymology

Dally too long comes from an old meaning of dally that was 'to play' or fool around instead of acting. Picture someone fiddling with their keys at a door; if they dally too long, the bus or chance will be gone, so it now means 'to waste time by delaying'.